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Klobuchar bill aims to help families with adoptees from abroad

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is proposing legislation aimed at helping families who have adopted children from abroad.

Klobuchar said events including an incident in Hastings last year where a 14-year-old boy brought a loaded gun to school prompted her to write the legislation. The boy had been adopted from Russia as a child.

She said families who have adopted from abroad need the same services as other adoptive families.

"There are some existing post-adoptive support services — counseling with families, figuring out if the kid needs some extra help — and that funding right now is limited to domestic adopted kids," she said.

Klobuchar said the bill wouldn't have an impact on the federal budget since it would only provide wider access to an existing stream of funding.

Klobuchar's bill would also mandate that statistics be collected on international adoptions.

Minnesota has the highest rate of international adoptions in the country.